


You Don't Have To Speak For Me To Believe It

by tabbytabbytabby



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Awesome Coach Finstock, Childhood Friends, Corey Bryant needs a hug, Feels, Fluff, Getting Together, Love Confessions, M/M, Mutual Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-09
Updated: 2018-09-09
Packaged: 2019-07-08 21:07:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,905
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15938303
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tabbytabbytabby/pseuds/tabbytabbytabby
Summary: Corey has been in love with Danny for years. He's sure Danny feels the same way. Yet he keeps holding himself back. He knows Danny is meant for so much more than to be stuck in this shit hole town than they live in. Corey is not going to be the one hat holds him back. Danny has other ideas.





	You Don't Have To Speak For Me To Believe It

**Author's Note:**

> This came to be because Cal posted [this](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/480009591233445889/487749216932986890/michael_johnston01.jpg) picture of Michael Johnston and my brain started going what if. And then I thought of [this](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/480009591233445889/487749212310601729/danny01.jpeg) picture of Keahu Kahuanui, and well here we are.  
> Title comes from Seed by The Academy Is...
> 
> This has not been beta read so any mistakes are my own. If you see any, please let me know and I'll get them fixed.

It’s a chilly day for March. Corey can still see his breath in the air as he looks out across the still empty park. It’s not warm enough to be open yet, but no one bothers to try and keep people out. If anyone wants to brave the cold then that’s their prerogative. Right now it is definitely Corey’s. He comes here a lot, especially at night when his parents are up fighting. It’s easier being here, even with the cold.

He looks over when he hears the crunching of the still frozen ground to see a figure walking towards him. He’s not afraid. Most people around here just leave each other alone. Usually. Even if it was someone looking for trouble Corey is more than equipped to handle himself. But he knows that silhouette. He’s seen it enough times for it to be engraved in his memory. It’s Danny Mahealani. His neighbor and best friend.

“I thought I saw you out here,” Danny says, taking the seat next to him on the bench.

“Aren’t I always out here?” Corey says, his eyes moving to look at Danny, whose gaze is already on him. “I think it would be more surprising if I wasn’t out here.”

“True,” Danny says, his lips twitching up into a smile, “You are a park staple at this point.”

“I’ll forever be the boy the haunts the park,” Corey jokes.

“Not forever,” Danny says, his face serious.

Corey has to make himself look away. He knows Danny thinks there’s hope for them, but Corey can’t really see it. For Danny? Sure. Danny is smart. He’s going places. Places that aren’t this shit hole town that just sucks people dry. Danny deserves better than that. He deserves a chance. And he’ll get it. He already has scholarships lined up at schools across the US if he wants them. And Corey is going to make sure he does.

As much as he’d like to keep Danny here with him he knows it would be selfish. He loves him, sure. He’s loved him for so long he almost doesn’t remember what it was like not to love him. He knows Danny feels something for him too, and that’s the problem. Anyone else would probably be overjoyed to have the attention of Danny Mahealani, but not Corey. Because Corey knows if Danny thought there was a chance for them and Corey was going to stay here, then Danny would too. And he can’t have that. He needs Danny to leave and find his happiness elsewhere, even if that means without him.

“What are you thinking about?” Danny asks, knocking their shoulders together.

Corey sighs and leans his head back, “Nothing. I’m just tired.”

“Come on,” Danny says, standing up and holding his hand out for Corey to take, “Let’s go.”

Corey knows where they’re going. Back to Danny’s place. It’s what always happens when Danny notices Corey in the park. And he _always_ notices. Corey knows he looks for him, checking to see if he’s there. He’d do the same if their roles were reversed.

Danny has a pretty good home life. His parents are great, and do their best to give him and his sister a good life. They’re more well off than some people around here but they never act like it, or take what they have for granted. Corey probably spends more time at Danny’s house than he does his own. Danny’s parents are more parents to him than his own at this point.

Corey lets Danny lead him back to his place. Everyone else is sleeping when they get inside. Corey quietly takes off his shoes and places them next to Danny’s and then the two quietly make their way up to his room. Danny grabs an extra pair of sweat and a t-shirt and hands them to Corey. He doesn’t even say anything. It’s all routine at this point. It makes something claw at Corey’s chest. How all of this feels so familiar. Wearing Danny’s clothes, having a toothbrush next to his in the bathroom, sharing his bed. It’s all so natural for them, something they’ve been doing for years without even thinking about it. Except now Corey is.

He falls back onto the bed next to Danny. He looks over at him to see him lying there with his eyes closed. Corey knows he’s not sleeping, at least not yet. But he still looks so at ease. Like he feels safe here with Corey, his best friend.

Corey wants more. He wants to hold him, touch him, _kiss him_. But those things aren’t his to take.  Danny isn’t his. He never will be. The thought has him looking away and squeezing his eyes shut. The more this goes on the harder it gets to hold back, but he knows he has to.

“You do remember I’m gay, right?” Danny asks suddenly.

Corey’s eyes snap open, and he turns to look at Danny, his face scrunched up in confusion, “Yeah man, you’ve been out for 5 years. Of course I know. You know _I’m_ gay?”

Danny’s lips twitch up into a smile as his voice raises a bit in an attempt to mimic Corey, “ _Yeah man, you’ve been out for 5 years_.”

Corey snorts, “Great, now that’s covered.”

Danny’s eyes search his face for a moment and then he’s looking away with a tired sigh, “You’re an idiot.”

Doesn’t Corey know it.

***

The weeks pass and Corey can feel his nerves building as graduation approaches. 2 weeks. Only 2 weeks and then high school would be over. 2 weeks and everything he’s known would be ending. Realistically he knows that’s not true. Even with Danny going off to college, he’ll still at least have the summer with him. Or so he thinks.

“So I got a call from my advisor at the university,” Danny says, taking a bite of his sandwich. “She asked me if I wanted to start classes in the summer rather than in the fall. Usually she’d want new students to wait but she thinks I can handle it.”

Corey takes a deep breath and makes himself look away. He can’t see how excited Danny is to leave. He can’t let Danny see how much it hurts him, “That’s great, man. Though with you being a genius and all I’m not surprised.”

“It doesn’t bother you?” Danny asks.

Corey makes himself look up at him. Danny’s face is carefully neutral and Corey hates it. He’s usually able to read him so well, but right now he can’t. He knows it’s his own fault. He’s been pulling away from Danny for months, telling himself it’ll make it easier when Danny inevitably leaves this hell town. Leaves _him_.

“You deserve this Danny,” Corey tells him. “Will I miss you? Yeah. You’re my best friend. Of course I will. But this is your shot at getting out. You have to take it.”

“You deserve to get out too,” Danny says, his voice soft.

Corey just shakes his head, giving him a bitter smile, “Not all of us are that lucky.”

Danny stares at him for a while, his eyes moving across his face. He takes a deep breath and his hand moves across the table, “Cor…”

The bell rings and Corey has never felt more relieved. He doesn’t know what Danny had planned to say but he knows he’s better off not hearing it. The words would probably just tear the hole eating away at his chest wider. Even Corey has his limits.

“We should get to class,” Corey says, grabbing his lunch tray and standing up.

“Since when do you care about class?” Danny asks, grabbing his own tray and following after him.

“Maybe I’m reformed,” Corey throws over his shoulder.

Danny snorts, “I seriously doubt that.”

It’s not even that Corey doesn’t care about class. He’s just never understood things as quickly as other people in his class. He used to ask questions when he was younger, wanting the teacher to explain things to him again. But it only took a few times of other students groaning and complaining for him to stop. He might not get it, but they all did.

That’s when it all started changing. He decided if his teachers didn’t care, and his parents didn’t care, then he wasn’t going to care either. The only one that did care was Danny, and he’s made sure that Corey has got good enough grades to passes his classes so they can graduate together. He’s the only one that’s been patient enough to actually go over stuff with him.

He’d once told Danny he’d make a good teacher and Danny had just ducked his head to hide his smile as he thanked him. It was one of the many times Corey had had to fight back the urge to kiss him. Part of him wishes he’d just taken the chance so he’d at least know what it was like before Danny leaves. But he thinks it might be better this way. If he knew, god if he knew what it was like to be with Danny like that doubts he’d have it in him to let him leave without a fight. It’s hard enough as it is.

Danny has been part of his life for so long. They’ve lived down the street from each other since they were 2, and met in the park across from Danny’s shortly after Danny moved in. It’s a place Corey has come to think of as theirs, even if it is occupied with children during the day. At night it’s empty. At night it’s his and Danny’s. At least for a bit.

Across the street from the park are a set of train tracks. They’re rarely used these days, which makes them the perfect place to walk when they need to get away. Corey’s spent countless hours with Danny walking those tracks through town and back. He remembers one time after a particularly bad fight with his parents that left him sore for over a week. He’d ran to Danny’s and dragged him down to the tracks and they just started walking. Danny hadn’t said anything. He knew what was going on. He always did, he still does.

They’d walked in silence for a while before the sound of a train startled them off the tracks. Corey remembers watching it go by and having to fight the urge to just jump on it and let it take him far away from here. Danny had taken his hand and held on tightly, as if he knew what Corey was thinking. He hadn’t want to let go.

Corey often wonders what would have happened if he’d jumped on the train. Would Danny have joined him? Or would he have stayed there and watched Corey ride away. He sometimes thinks it would have been the second one.

Corey’s more silent than usual in Economics. He knows he is. But he can’t stop thinking about the look on Danny’s face before the bell had rang and interrupted them. He looked almost desperate, which is a look he doesn’t often see on Danny. That’s what scares him so much. He knows Danny was probably looking for an in, some indication that Corey wants him to stay. But Corey couldn’t give it to him. Danny deserves better than that.

The bell rings and Corey slowly gathers his books and throws them into his worn backpack. He still when Coach Finstock’s voice fills the almost empty room, “Bryant, can you hold back for a bit? I need to talk to you.”

Corey’s shoulders deflate a little at that. The last thing he needs right now is a lecture. But he nods his head and finishes packing up his things as the rest of the students file out. Luckily he doesn’t have Danny in this class, otherwise he’d be hovering by the door in worry. Though he knows he’s probably going to be doing the same by his locker when Corey doesn’t immediately show up.

He grabs his bag and walks to the front row of desks. He tries to be casual as he leans against one and crosses his arms, “Yeah Coach?”

Coach looks up from his papers and frowns at him, “Are you alright?”

The question throws Corey a bit. Of all the things he’d been expecting, it hadn’t been that, “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“You were quieter than usual in class,” Coach says, “Usually you’ll smart off or something but today it was like you weren’t even here. You know you can talk to me, right? If there’s anything that’s bothering you. Girl problems…”

“I’m gay,” Corey blurts out, feeling his face heat up a bit.

Coach shrugs, “Guy problems then?” When Corey hesitates, Coach sighs and leans back in his seat. “Is it Mahealani?”

“What? No! Why would Danny have anything to do with this?”

“Because you two are best friends,” Coach says, “You’ve been practically glued together your whole time here, and even before that. It can’t be easy knowing he’s going away.”

Corey feels the fight leave him. He’s been dealing with this on his own for so long, not able to tell anyone. Now here Coach is, offering to listen. It might be the only chance he has to get it all out.

“I’m in love with him. I have been for a while now. But he’s going off to college. He even got early admission to start a couple weeks after graduation. Which is great. He deserves it.”

“But you want him to stay?”

“I…” Corey swallows thickly, hating how he suddenly has the urge to cry. But he doesn’t let himself, “I do. But I don’t. He deserves a chance to get out of here and be better.”

“And you think you don’t?” Coach asks.

“I’ve never going to amount to much,” Corey says. “Everyone knows that. But Danny. Danny is amazing. He’s smart. He’s going to do amazing things. He deserves to get out of here and have a chance to do that. And I’m not going to be the one that holds him back.”

“What does Danny think?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Corey says, “He’s leaving in a few weeks and then that’s it. He’ll be free of this place.”

“You know what I think?” Coach asks, carrying on without waiting for Corey to answer. “I think you should talk to him and sort all this out.’

Corey shakes his head, “It wouldn’t matter.”

“You’re afraid he’d still go?”

“No,” Corey says, “I’m afraid he’d stay. And then he’d grow to resent me for it.”

Coach sighs, “Maybe he’ll surprise you. You deserve to be happy too, Corey. You’re smarter than you realize. You just learn differently than the rest of your peers. And I know you struggle with it. But I’ve seen what you’re like when you have someone taking the time to explain things to you the way that Mahealani does. You excel. You just need a good teacher.”

“You’re a good teacher,” Corey tells him. And he means it. Out of everyone, Finstock has surprisingly been the most patient. “You don’t get near enough credit, Coach. You’re one of the only ones that have actually tried to help me rather than writing me off as a waste.”

Coach looks more than a little surprised by Corey’s comment. Then he’s giving Corey a pleased smile, “I am a good teacher.”

Corey chuckles, “Yeah, you are. Is there anything else?”

Coach studies his face for a moment for shaking his head, “No, I suppose that’s it. But if you need to talk about anything, you know where to find me.”

Corey thanks him and then leaves, still feeling a little thrown by the whole conversation. He tries not to be disappointed when he gets to his locker and Danny’s not there. It’s not as if they had plans. He opens it and a slip of paper falls out, the words showing Danny’s neat handwriting: “ _I had to go get ready for lacrosse practice. I heard Coach held you back after class. Hope everything’s okay. I’ll text you later.”_

Corey feels a little better after that. Even if Coach was the one running late he’d probably still be onto anyone who showed up late just because he was. Corey swaps out his books even though he doubts he needs them. They’re not exactly doing much these last few weeks. But it’s more out of habit than anything else. He can use his books as an excuse to stay in his room at least.

His parents aren’t happy when he gets home, especially not his Dad. He gets onto him for being late and making his mother wait to make dinner. Corey could tell him that Coach wanted to talk but he knows that would just raise more questions and he doesn’t want that. The last thing he needs is them in his business. He’s just waiting for graduation and then he’s going to be out of here, hopefully getting an apartment with Theo, one of the few people who isn’t going away for college. Just another week and this would be over.

He sneaks out after dark, grabbing a bag and slipping out his window as quietly as he can. He doubts his parents will notice. They never come to check on him after dinner. When they can’t see him it’s as if they forget he exists. Which is fine by him.

Danny texted him an hour ago and asked him to meet him at the park. He knows he’s probably wanting to know what Coach wanted to talk about. Corey’s had all afternoon to come up with come excuse.

Danny’s sitting on one of the swings when Corey walks up. He takes the swing next to his and pulls his leather jacket tighter around him. It’s not even that cool out right now. It’s more of a security thing than anything else.

“I can’t do this anymore Corey,” Danny says suddenly.

“Do what?” Corey asks, keeping his eyes on the night sky in front of him.

“All of this,” Danny says, “Pretending. I know you have your reasons. I just didn’t realize they were so stupid.”

“Excuse me?” Corey asks, finally turning his head to face Danny.

“You’re in love with me,” Danny says, “And I love you. You know that. But you’re always making up excuses as to why we can’t be together.”

Corey is silent. He doesn’t know what to say. He hadn’t been expecting this. Not tonight. Once again Danny knows exactly how to throw him off his guard and get to him in a way no one else does.

"You know I had to hear about all of this from Finstock of all people? What the hell Corey? He said he was disappointed in me for breaking your heart!"

“I didn’t tell him that!” Corey says, staring at Danny with wide eyes.

“No, but you told him you think I deserve better than to be stuck here and you don’t. Which is bullshit, by the way,” Danny says. His gaze is hard. Corey can’t remember the last time he saw him this angry. “I have been trying to give you your space. Now I realize that’s probably been a mistake because all it’s done is let you get it into your head that you’re not good enough for me or some shit. But you _are_. Corey, you’re my best friend and the most important person in my life. I _love_ you, damn it. I know you think you’d be holding me back, but that’s not true. If I’m getting out of this shit hole town, then so are you, okay?”

“What?” Corey flinches when all that comes out is that simple word.

Danny rolls his eyes, “I’m not leaving here without you, Corey. We both deserve a chance to be happy. Together.”

“You mean that,” Corey says, his mind still working to catch up with what’s happening. “But what would I ever do?”

“You’d get a job,” Danny tells him. “And we’ll figure the rest out. You’re going to be working here anyway, right? Why not do that in Boston?”

“I…” Corey doesn’t really have an argument against it. Any excuses he’s been making seem feeble now. He has his chance now. To be with Danny and to get out of this town, “I’ve always wanted to see Boston.”

Danny smiles, “It is beautiful. I think you’ll like it.”

“I think I’d like anywhere if you were there,” Corey tells him.

Danny smiles and moves his swing closer, “Get over here.”

Corey leans in, holding his breath as Danny’s lips finally meet his. It’s soft, almost hesitant. Then Corey is grabbing the chain of Danny’s swing and bringing them closer together. His other hand moves to Danny’s hair and tangle in the soft locks. The kisses loses all hesitation then.

All too soon, Danny is pulling back. He smiles when Corey pouts and nudges Corey’s nose with his own, “I love you.”

Corey knows he should be afraid. He’s been holding the words in or so long. But right now he can’t be. Not when he has Danny here like this and knows for sure Danny not only feels the same way, but wants a future away from here with Corey.

“I love you too.”

It’s not until later when they’re curled up together in Danny’s bed that he remembers something, “Theo! We were supposed to get an apartment together.”

Danny just pulls him tighter against him, “He’s getting an apartment with Liam and Mason. They wouldn’t be able to leave him, just like I can’t leave you.”

“Oh,” Corey says, letting himself relax back into Danny’s arms. “Good.”

“It certainly is,” Danny says, placing a kiss to his forehead.

When the day comes to finally leave Beacon Hills, Corey and Danny pack their bags in the car and the drive off, neither of them looking back. They have a new life waiting for them in Boston. One from all the pain they dealt with back in Beacon Hills.

Corey still makes sure to send Coach a postcard when they get there, thanking him for everything. Coach keeps it on his desk, next to his favorite picture of him and the Sheriff. It’s still sitting there when Danny drags when back for their 10 year reunion, along with the others Corey sends him from various vacation spots over the years.

Danny just smiles when he sees them, “I told you that you were always his favorite. Just like you’re mine.”

“Well I hope so since you married me,” Corey says, grinning up at him.

It’s easier than he thought it would be being back here. But he’s different than he was back then. He’s happier. He has a good job working with disadvantaged kids. Kids that are like him. But unlike him they’re getting the help they need. It’s not easy, but it matters, and he feels like he’s helping.

He comes home every day to Danny. It’s hard to believe that 10 years ago he was ready to give Danny up. He can’t even imagine that now. He’s glad that both Coach and Danny were stubborn and wouldn’t let it go. They gave him a chance at a better life. One that he hasn’t not taken for granted for a single second.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Kudos/Comments make my day. ♥  
> [My tumblr](http://tabbytabbytabby.tumblr.com/)


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